You were right, being hungry makes angry, say psychologists
(Hungry kitty. / Flickr/Trey Ratcliff https://bit.ly/3aI0hpL)
Have you ever noticed that when you’re angry, you get all moody. You get hangry.
Now psychologists from the Karl Landsteiner Medical University have confirmed the link between hunger and negative emotions.
Many people claim that they become irritable and aggressive when they feel hungry, they get "hangry" (a mix of "hungry" and "angry").
Although the connection between hunger and negative emotions may seem obvious, it remains largely unexplored.
In the past, scientists have tried to link increased levels of aggression with low blood glucose concentrations, but they were unsuccessful.
Also, laboratory tests have shown that hungry people are more likely to perceive ambiguous images as negative.
The experiment
Now a team of Austrian psychologists led by Stefan Stieger decided to study the connection between hunger and aggression in everyday conditions, – outside the laboratory.
The researchers selected 121 volunteers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland with an average age of 29.9 years.
During the 21 days of the experiment, the subjects led a normal life, but 5 times a day they filled out a questionnaire in a mobile application with questions about their well-being.
The authors asked participants to rate, on a scale of 100, their emotional state, as well as the level of hunger, irritation, anger, and arousal at the moment.
In addition, they reported how much time had passed since the last meal.
At the end of the study, a total of 64 participants were left – more than half of the ones that started.
After that, they answer additional questions about eating behavior and tendencies to aggression.
After analyzing the results, Stieger's team found that hunger does have a negative effect on the emotional state.
People who were hungry experienced stronger irritation and anger; not only that, their sensation of pleasure was weaker.
This pattern persisted even after participants' age, sex, and body mass index were adjusted. The authors also icluded eating behavior and tendency to aggressiveness.
Furthermore, the level of negative emotions can be determined not only by daily fluctuations in hunger, but also by its average level during 3 weeks
This also indicates the reliability of the discovered relationship.
The results
The team estimated that hunger was responsible for 56% of the differences in irritability among the subjects.
They also noted 48% of the differences in anger and 44% of the differences in pleasure.
The desire to eat affects anger, irritation and pleasure separately; however, interestingly, affects a composite measure that takes into account all three of these emotions.
The psychologists doubt that hunger automatically causes irritation and anger due to a drop in blood glucose levels.
It is more likely that at first it simply reduces the level of pleasure.
And if a person in this state is faced with an ambiguous situation, he/she is more likely to perceive it negatively and experience irritation or anger.
Now you know it is true: a hungry person can get angry.
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